Lia Thomas and the long tradition of 'gender policing' female athletes

In a February 1937 issue of Look magazine, a photo of American Olympic runner Helen Stephens appeared below the caption “What Do You Think? Is This a Man Or a Woman?” The image and the accompanying query were part of a larger feature titled: “When Is a Woman Actually a Woman? Today’s Chief Worry Among Athletic Officials.”

In the aftermath, Stephens — a two-time Olympic champion who never lost a race — lost valuable career and scholarship opportunities, said Sharon Kinney-Hanson, the author of “The Life of Helen Stephens: The Fulton Flash.”

“You think about what feminine standards were in her era: It was the glamor, you had to be gorgeous, you had to be big-chested and curvaceous, and Helen was not interested in that,” Kinney-Hanson said. “She was interested in sports, making a career of it.”

While much has changed for female athletes since Stephens’ day, suspicion surrounding their gender and sexuality — from offensive remarks to sex verification tests — remains. Several historians argue that the heated debate surrounding transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas, whose record-breaking season has thrust her unwillingly into the national spotlight, is a continuation of that century-old legacy.

“Historically, there’s just been a concern that sports would masculinize women or that women might either feminize sports or that you would lose gender distinctions that many people valued,” said Susan Cahn, a history professor at the University of Buffalo and the author of “Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Women’s Sport.”

She added that trans and intersex athletes — those who are born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the typical “male” or “female” categories — further blur boundaries and raise questions about how separate and distinct sex and gender really are.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/lia-thomas-long-tradition-gender-policing-female-athletes-rcna20091
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Interesting that the article does not mention Brittney Griner, whose gender has been questioned a LOT.